Buffaloes eye changing of guard atop VOL

MANTECA - The Manteca girls basketball team may be primed to end East Union's run of success in the Valley Oak League this season.

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By Kevin Niendorf

recordnet.com

By Kevin Niendorf

Posted Nov. 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By Kevin Niendorf

Posted Nov. 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

MANTECA - The Manteca girls basketball team may be primed to end East Union's run of success in the Valley Oak League this season.

Manteca has two seniors committed to four-year colleges who would like nothing more than to end their high school careers with a league championship. Point guard Mikayla Hasal, a four-year varsity player, has signed with Cal State Stanislaus, and St. Mary's transfer Courtney Range - a first-team All-Area selection last season - has signed a letter of intent with Cal.

"(Range) is a five-tool player," said Buffaloes coach Cody Norman, an assistant with the boys team last season who takes over for Andrea Hiatt. "She can do it all and has great basketball IQ. Her length makes it hard to defend and for opponents to get the ball past her."

Norman figures the Lancers and Weston Ranch will battle his Buffaloes atop the standings. Manteca and East Union were co-champions last season, finishing 12-2 in league.

"Andrea left some big shoes for me to fill, but I think having both Mikayla and Courtney will make the transition easier," Norman said. "I am very lucky to be in this position."

Senior forward Jasmine Odell has been the Buffaloes' most aggressive player with solid defensive instincts. She'll be joined by juniors Jessica Hasal, McKenna Balmut and Abby Behler.

For the Lancers, guard Alyssa Gonnigan is the lone returning starter, as Shalane Jackson graduated and Tia Tuuga transferred to a private school. They averaged 35 points per game combined, but coach Jim Agostini said he hopes to fill that void with a steady rotation of 11 players.

"Each new team has to learn the qualities of what it takes to be a champion; there are no shortcuts," Agostini said. "We're much faster this year, and we have a little more depth."

The Lancers also have incoming point guard Olivia Vezaldenos, the third freshman to crack the starting lineup at East Union in the 12 years Agostini has been a coach there.

"She has the basketball instincts that make the game a little bit easier," Agostini said. "We're trying to bring her along like every other player on the team."

Juniors Victoria Vezaldenos and Marina Sayler will be called upon to pick up the scoring, along with seniors Angelique Cardoza and Alex Scopas.

The Lancers, who have won at least a share of the VOL title in six of the past eight seasons, will try to extend their streak of consecutive postseason berths to 13.

Weston Ranch has finished among the top three in the league for five consecutive seasons and Cougars coach Chris Bauer is fielding another strong team. Returning are seniors Emoni Wilson, Candisse Griffin, Anna Haley and Courtney Smith. Junior Aljanea Brown and newcomer Elizabeth Alexander, a sophomore, are also expected to see heavy minutes, but it's Wilson who will lead the show.

"She's a four-year varsity player who has always been the second or third option," said Bauer, who has coached the team since the school's inception nine years ago and said this year's team contains the most talent he's ever had. "Now, Emoni is the first option and there's more responsibility on her."

Lathrop begins its fourth season in the VOL, all under the helm of Ed Fang. The Spartans have a lot of depth within their junior class, led by center Loreal Taylor. Newcomer Taylor Conley will also see time at center, while Briana Fernandez will play guard. Aikla Lesly and Jamie Metcalfe are the forwards.

"We have four solid juniors we're really counting on," Fang said.

Senior Jazlyn Simon, whose 15.1 points per game earned her VOL second-team honors, will be joined by senior guard Manraj Kaur. Senior Marissa Elliott, who was injured most of last season, has been on the varsity since her freshman year.

"We believe we can be a playoff team with the returners that we have," Fang said.

"Hopefully, an up-tempo game will make us competitive," said coach Stephan Unterholzner, who believes the teams to beat are Manteca and Weston Ranch, with it being a wide-open race for third place.

Sonora is deep at the guard position with sophomore Bailey Henington returning to run the offense from the point. Coach Amy Santos is counting on senior guards Jessie Fong and Stephanie Chung to score along with returning post player Bryanna Owens.

"Hopefully we can get out and run and put up some good shots," said Santos, whose roster consists of three seniors, juniors and sophomores. "(The VOL) is always tough."

Kimball coach Mike Granillo enters his fourth season and will have three seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and a freshman.

"We only had one senior on the team last year, so we have almost everybody back," Granillo said. "People know who we are now with the majority of our corps back. We won't be able to hide anymore."

That includes first-team all-league guard Allie Schmidt, a sophomore. Also returning are sophomore forwards Sarah Nunes and Alexis Clark.

Oakdale coach Justin Schwitters said he'll rely on junior point guard Christina Cobarruvias and seniors Kylie Gust and Janny Garcia to lead an up-tempo game defensively.

He plans to rotate nine players who he said are all capable of starting.

"Being nine deep we hope to stay fresh for four full quarters and wear teams down with our defense," Schwitters said.